Somehow, the Australian government forced insurance companies to rebuild homes on new land after the 1989 Newcastle Earthquake but ‘little’ New Zealand is being held to ransom by Corporate America and Europe.

The comparison with the Newcastle quake is interesting, as it's a similar-sized city to Christchurch. Unlike Christchurch there was one large quake, followed by a single aftershock. Perhaps the most significant difference, from an insurance point of view, is that no real requirement for earthquake resistance has since been incorporated into local building codes, and none of the damaged areas have been declared off-limits for rebuilding.

The advantages of a bit more critical mass, and ongoing risk assessment based on different conditions?

It's a horrible state of affairs Mike, and there's little comfort to be drawn from knowing that a significant number of those currently in the orange and white zones will eventually find themselves in a situation much like yours.

Since the announcement of the "package" Brownlee has shown a maddening tendency to traipse behind events. It's insulting to people in your situation to be invited to present your ideas for a rebuilt Christchurch when your life is unravelling. There's a nasty feeling that if something doesn't happen soon CERA may prove a poisoned chalice for Roger Sutton.

Great piece. We are in the "orange but going to turn red" zone and will be facing this ourselves in the coming months. The rest of the country really needs to pay close attention to what's going on here.

The problem is that philosophically Brownlee and the National party don't believe that it is appropriate to "be tough with" a big business.

Big Businesses are the very definition of what they believe is the right way to do things. Hard nosed bargaining that screws over ordinary folk is to be admired. It is the ordinary folks own fault for not having better lawyers. It is that very shark like behaviour that they believe is of benefit to New Zealand in the long run.

Similarly the property developers are the kind of people they believe are good for the New Zealand economy and so hindering them in any way is bad for New Zealand. Self interested go-getters are good.

It's very hard to argue with such an irrational belief structure, However, they do admire good lawyering.

Great piece, Mike, I hope the govt realises this issue isn’t going to go away. I think CERA using its powers to acquire substitute land is the best idea*. Otherwise so many homeowners in the Red Zone just won’t have anywhere to go.

*Presumably they can recoup some of this cost when currently Red Zoned land is remediated and sold, a few years down the track.

The Red Zone needs more than National throwing money at it and leaving people to the market. Gerry's response to this article is in the mainland news. Unbelievable and you all need to read it. Basically he says 200000 mortgage is nothing for folk only like paying rent!!! He said this and My tax is paying him. Thanks for feedback folks. Lawyers would be out in force if these districts had more folk 'well heeled". And is it just me thinking.....The East Red Zone is Red...and will account for little this election!!!

Perhaps landlords in Christchurch are a nasty bunch but this is probably overstating it a little. Remember what got these people into trouble is having all their wealth (actually more than that with the mortgage) tied up in a single, immovable asset which despite their best efforts (insurance) was vulnerable to being badly hurt.

Part of the solution might be higher density, cheaper to rent units/flats rather than attempting to re-house everybody on a 1/4 acre section. But I suspect that people (potential tenants and NIMBY neighbours) will reject this option.

Should be be encouraging poor and retired people to invest all their money in over-priced housing?

Perhaps landlords in Christchurch are a nasty bunch but this is probably overstating it a little.

Like all generalisations it's a bit of an overstatement. I know of someone who's had to relocate recently thanks to quake damage, and their new landlady's a real angel. For people in Mike Coleman's position though, being beholden to any landlord represents the loss of the security that they've striven to achieve and insured in good faith to retain.

CERA chief Roger Sutton is offering the My Housing Options Expo at the end of the month. I imagine that those who are still coming to grips with the realisation that their full home replacement policy has vanished into a convenient loophole will be a tad underwhelmed at the prospect of further discussing their situation with industry reps in an expo venue.

It is simple. We talked about it earlier. Prevent the selling of empty sections within 50km of the Red Zone by no more than a percentage of the 2007 rateable value per year from now. Lets say 20% as a quickie guess.